Hookah use (harmful but seen as trendy) increasing among U.S. teens, study says

By Leslie Postal

Hookah use is increasing among U.S. teens, an "alarming" trend given the health problems associated with smoking the water pipes, according to a study released this week. The study found 18 percent of high school students reported they'd used a hookah in the last year, up from about 4 percent three years ago.

White students, students with well-educated and more affluent parents and those who'd previously smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol or used illegal drugs were more likely to smoke a hookah, the study found. Hookahs, which date back to ancient Persia, today are typically used to smoke flavored tobacco.

The study noted that while cigarette use among American teens was down, the increasing use of hookahs or other types of tobacco products was offsetting the benefits of that decline.

Published in the journal Pediatrics, the study said hookah use has become "an increasingly popular social activity among adolescents" and said health, education and public policy experts need to work together to curtail the "problematic" behavior.

Though many hookah users think the devices are less harmful than cigarettes, the Center for Disease Control warns that is not true.

The tobacco used in hookahs, for example, contains "toxic agents" known to cause bladder, lung and oral cancers, the CDC said, and hookahs deliver highly addictive nicotine.

Using a hookah, the CDC says, "poses serious health risks."

But, the new study found, many teens don't know that. "This misconception probably leads to the social normalization of hookah use as a trendy and acceptable way to have fun with friends," it said.